Glioblastoma is an aggressive form of cancer that invades brain tissue, making it extremely difficult to treat. Current therapies involving radiation and chemotherapy are effective in destroying the bulk of brain cancer cells, but they are not able to reach the brain cancer stem cells, which have the ability to grow and multiply indefinitely. These … Continue reading Drug used to treat multiple sclerosis may improve glioblastoma outcomes

There is nothing you can do to prevent or reduce your risk of leukemia. That’s not a very reassuring statement considering that this year alone almost 62,000 Americans will be diagnosed with leukemia; almost 23,000 will die from the disease. That’s why CIRM is funding four clinical trials targeting leukemia, hoping to develop new approaches … Continue reading Stem cell progress and promise in fighting leukemia

In ancient Greek mythology, a Chimera was a creature that was usually depicted as a lion with an additional goat head and a serpent for a tail. Due to the Chimera’s animal hybrid nature, the term “chimeric” came to fruition in the scientific community as a way to describe an organism containing two or more … Continue reading CIRM-Funded Researchers Develop Chimeric “Mighty Mouse” Model to Study Alzheimer’s Disease

Getting a breast cancer diagnosis is devastating news in and of itself. Currently, there are treatment options that target three different types of receptors, which are named hormone epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2), estrogen receptors (ER), and progesterone receptors (PR), commonly found in breast cancer cells, . Unfortunately, in triple-negative breast cancer, which occurs … Continue reading Newly discovered “don’t eat me” signal shows potential for ovarian and triple-negative breast cancer treatment

CIRM’s mission is very simple: to accelerate stem cell treatments to patients with unmet medical needs. Anne Klein’s son, Everett, was a poster boy for that statement. Born with a fatal immune disorder Everett faced a bleak future. But Anne and husband Brian were not about to give up. The following story is one Anne … Continue reading One family’s fight to save their son’s life, and how stem cells made it possible

The invention of GPS navigation systems has made finding your way around so much easier, providing simple instructions on how to get from point A to point B. Now, a new study shows that our bodies have their own internal navigation system that helps stem cells know where to go, and when, in order to … Continue reading How stem cells know the right way to make a heart . And what goes wrong when they don’t

In addition to approving funding for breast cancer related brain metastases last week, the CIRM Board also approved an additional $19.7 million geared towards our translational research program. The goal of this program is to help promising projects complete the testing needed to begin talking to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about holding … Continue reading CIRM Board Approves $19.7 Million in Awards for Translational Research Program

Yesterday the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) awarded $9.28 million to Dr. Saul Priceman at City of Hope to conduct a clinical trial for the treatment of breast cancer related brain metastases, which are tumors in the brain that have spread from the original site of the breast cancer. This … Continue reading CIRM Board Approves New Clinical Trial for Breast Cancer Related Brain Metastases

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a genetic disorder that is the most common form of inherited intellectual disability in children, and has also been linked to a form of autism. Uncovering the cause of FXS could help lead to a deeper understanding of autism, what causes it and ultimately, it’s hoped, to treating or even … Continue reading Genetic defect leads to slower production of brain cells linked to one form of autism